Fantasy Football Start/Sit – Week 6

It’s becoming a common trend that each week a star goes down for the season. In Week 5 it was Odell Beckham Jr. fracturing his bothersome ankle leaving the 0-5 Giants in disarray. Hopefully your team can maneuver through the fantasy football “injury” climate. One way to do such a thing is to make that big trade to position yourself for success. The matchups of the week to exploit are the Falcons against the Dolphins, Saints versus the Lions, Patriots at the Jets and the Texans at home against the Browns. There should be a lot of points scored by those offenses so get your lineups set. Fantasy Football Start/Sit Week 6.

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Quarterbacks

Start – Matt Ryan vs Dolphins

After a historic 2016 MVP season where Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan produced 4944 yards and 38 touchdowns, he was due for some regression in the 2017 season. His offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan departed to San Francisco and Ryan would have to learn a new offensive system under Steve Sarkisian. So far through the first 4 games Matty Ice has struggled to the tune of 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. That is 2 interceptions short of the 7 he threw all of last year and fantasy owners are getting a bit worried on the fantasy prospects of the 10 year veteran. Fresh off the bye week where the Falcons get a healthier Julio Jones back in the lineup, Ryan should feast at home against the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins have played well on defense this season despite their offensive struggles as they’ve allowed a miniscule 3.1 yards per rushing attempt; however their pass defense has allowed the second best completion percentage to quarterbacks at 73.3%. Ryan should be able to take advantage of the Dolphins secondary in the short to intermediate game which will allow their game changers to get huge chunks of yardage after the catch. Trust him as a QB1 this week in his breakout game of the 2017 season.

Kirk Cousins vs 49ers

Deshaun Watson vs Browns

Phillip Rivers vs Raiders

Sit – Eli Manning vs Broncos

What’s worse than losing your top 4 receivers to injury last week; having to play the Denver Broncos “No Fly Zone” secondary the next week coming off of the Broncos bye. The Giants are now 0-5 and their season is officially over as far as I’m concerned. The added injury to insult happened in Week 5 as they lost their best player Odell Beckham and Brandon Marshall to season ending broken ankles. This leaves Eli Manning with a hobbled Sterling Shepard who is dealing with an ankle injury of his own and Roger Lewis as the starters going forward. Add a porous offensive line to the mix and this should be a game where the Broncos pass rush feasts on the immobile Manning. The Giants are heading for the 1st overall pick in the NFL draft and you should stay clear of all Giants players on your fantasy rosters.

Running Backs

Start – Alvin Kamara vs Lions

The Saints backfield just got a bit thinner with the trade of Adrian Peterson to the Arizona Cardinals. Peterson really didn’t see the field much and was not a factor but it is still a huge sigh of relief for Alvin Kamara and especially Mark Ingram owners. After the game in London against the Miami Dolphins, it was clear to me that Kamara is the back to own for the Saints. He received 15 touches in the ball game for 96 yards and a touchdown as it was apparent that the Saints wanted to get the ball in his hands whenever he touched the field. Kamara is a dynamic playmaker out of the backfield that head coach Sean Payton have been searching for since the departure of Darren Sproles. The Saints like to throw the football and Kamara is one of the best running backs in the league catching the football and creating big plays due to his open field prowess. Kamara is an absolute start in PPR leagues going forward even with Mark Ingram slated for more snaps than the rookie back.

Mark Ingram vs Lions

CJ Anderson vs Giants

Duke Johnson vs Texans

Ameer Abdullah vs Saints

Elijah McGuire vs Patriots

Andre Ellington vs Buccaneers

Sit

Frank Gore vs Titans

Frank Gore has had an illustrious career achieving yet another milestone last week by passing Eric Dickerson on the all-time rushing yards list. He now sits 7th all-time in rushing with Jerome Bettis and LaDainian Tolminson in sight for the taking. Imagine that feat as he has a realistic shot to be the 5th all-time rusher in NFL history. My hat goes off to Gore but we talking fantasy right? Currently it seems that rookie Marlon Mack who returned from a multi-week injury last week has the juice. Mack rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown (should’ve been 2) on only 9 carries in Week 5 displaying his explosiveness with a handful of big runs in the ball game. My knock on Mack coming into the season was his affinity of unnecessarily bouncing runs to the outside instead of getting the tough yardage between the tackles but for the Colts offense a player like Mack is needed to give them a dynamic game changer that they’re lacking outside of T.Y. Hilton. Gore will still get his 10+ carries but his 3.2 yards per carry leaves a lot to be desired. Keep Gore in the stables and scoop up a Mack if he is still available in your fantasy leagues.

Wide Receivers

Start – Pierre Garcon vs Redskins

REVENGE!!! The revenge game narrative is in full effect this week as 49ers receiver Pierre Garcon goes up against his former team the Washington Redskins. So far this season as expected, Garcon has been a target monster under former offensive coordinator and new head coach Kyle Shanhan. 44 targets though 5 games puts him at just under 9 targets per game making Garcon the engine for the 49ers offense. Garcon also gets an added boost as he will not have to go up against shadow coverage from Josh Norman as the star corner will be out for the foreseeable future with a broken rib. Garcon is a tough matchup for any corner due to his physicality at the line of scrimmage, his strong and the yardage he gains after the catch. Look for the Niners to attack the Redskins secondary early and often in this contest with Garcon being the biggest beneficiary.

Start

Brandin Cooks vs Jets

Golden Tate vs Saints

Will Fuller vs Browns

Desean Jackson vs Cardinals

Taylor Gabriel vs Dolphins

Sit

Sammy Watkins vs Jaguars

The Sammy Watkins experience has been tamed this season with the exception of his big Week 3 game against the 49ers going for over 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. Many were excited after that game as quarterback Jared Goff seemed to have developed a rapport with Watkins. Two games later against the Cowboys and Seahawks where Watkins totaled 1 catch for 7 yards and the fantasy community is panicking on the prospects for the one time star receiver. As of right now it is pretty difficult to predict any Rams receiver production due to the nature of their spread the wealth offense but one thing for certain is that Watkins has drawn the short stick more often than not. He only has 6 targets in the last two weeks and goes up against the best corner duo in the NFL this week in A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey. Head Coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that he will try and get Watkins more involved in the offense but Goff should look elsewhere as he doesn’t want to Ben Roethlisberger himself and force passes to the outside against the Jaguars corners.

Tight Ends

Start – Austin Seferian-Jenkins vs Patriots

In a position where it is unreliable as it gets, I am recommending to start the once maligned Austin Seferian-Jenkins this week against the Patriots. After missing the first two games to suspension Seferian-Jenkins has 15 catches in three games and a touchdown. The Patriots defense has been pretty awful this season ranking dead last in passing yards given up per game, giving up the most passing touchdowns and allowing huge chunks of yardage in the middle of the field pretty much every week. As a matter of fact the Patriots defense has given up a receiving touchdown to a tight end in 4 of their 5 games this year. Meanwhile the Jets lack viable receiving weapons on the outside which should funnel most of their targets to Seferian-Jenkins in the middle of the field. The Jets quarterback Josh McCown has found his new favorite tight end to target and this should not change this week against the Pats.

Start

Cameron Brate vs Cardinals

Hunter Henry vs Raiders

George Kittle vs Redskins

Sit

Jared Cook vs Chargers

Remember when Jared Cook was a thing earlier this season. Well he has reverted back to the old inconsistent Jared Cook we remembered. I understand everything is not on him due to the injury to quarterback Derek Carr but don’t get fooled by his athleticism as he has been a failure at every destination in his career. Cook can’t be trusted on your fantasy teams so it’s best to keep him on your bench, actually you probably need to drop him right now.

Defense to stream

Atlanta Falcons vs Dolphins

If you’re a savvy fantasy owner like me you probably stream a defense each week. This week the defense to stream is the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons get the privilege of playing #NeverCutler at home after a bye week. The Dolphins offense has been horrible all season long as they haven’t been able to get the Jay-Train going. The Falcons should focus on stopping the run in this contest and letting Jay Cutler do Jay Cutler. Fire up the Falcons D this week.